Stacy A. Geisler, DDS, PhD

Oral Surgeon Lake Oswego OR

Meet Dr. Geisler

Dr. Stacy Geisler is the first female, board certified, oral and maxillofacial surgeon in the history of the state of Oregon. With more than 25 years in practice, she focuses her clinical activities on facial reconstruction and dental implant surgery. Her mission: to care for patients in such a way that they feel loved and supported as she and her team provides care for them.

To support her focus on patient care, Dr. Geisler constantly seeks out new technologies and surgical advances aimed at improving care for her patients. Dr. Geisler’s emphasis on education extends to providing this information to others. She actively participates in various professional organizations as a speaker and also mentors interested individuals seeking medical-related careers. Some of these people have progressed to successful careers as a neurosurgeon, surgical ophthalmologist, and dentist.

Background

Dr. Geisler earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis, preparing her for advanced degrees in her field from Case Western Reserve University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated with honors from these programs. She completed a National Institute of Health post-doctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill following her residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

An active member of professional societies such as the American Dental Association and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Dr. Geisler additionally supports and trains the next generation of medical professionals. She served as an assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Oregon Health and Sciences University from 2002 to 2005 and has been an investigator on several research projects focused on clinical care as well as studied various aspects of head and neck cancers. These findings were published in publications including the American Journal of Epidemiology. She has served as an editorial peer reviewer for publications including Journal of the American Dental Association and Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The latter work earned her certificates of excellence for her contributions between 2012 and 2015.

Dr. Geisler began her early professional life as a firefighter and thus enjoys physical training such as running, weightlifting and yoga during off hours.

A lifelong lover of the arts, she and her husband, Bill, support the Portland Center Stage Theater and the Portland Museum of Art. She also enjoys spending time with Bill and their many friends.

Dental Mission Trips

In addition, Dr. Geisler donates her expertise to caring for others without access to healthcare. She and her practice regularly participate in various dental care outreach events.

Dr. Geisler had the opportunity to spend two weeks working in Senegal in February 2005. World Vision and her church, Lake Grove Presbyterian, sponsored the medical mission trip. She was the only dentist participating.

“I was by myself,” she said. “I didn’t have any electricity or plumbing, I didn’t have any assistants. Our team consisted of two nurses and two physicians and me.”

To sterilize used instruments, they had bleach and heat. The only other available disinfectant: hand sanitizer.

Dr. Geisler focused on extracting teeth. “Every child I saw in the village had terrible tooth decay, in part, because they had radically changed their diet. A locust infestation destroyed their millet crop, which is their dietary staple.”

She also spent some time with a local dentist and taught him some oral surgical techniques. The team brought with them $30,000 worth of donated medications and antibiotics used during the duration of the trip to treat the villagers.

Along with members of her church, she is helping equip a hospital in Senegal. The supplies and instruments will help properly outfit operating rooms for visiting surgeons. This will enable the volunteer medical professionals to successfully complete more extensive surgeries.

Dr. Geisler returned to West Africa in November 2006 on a mission to Burkina Faso with Medical Teams International. “The need was overwhelming in this country,” she said. “There were only three dentists in the entire country of 11 million people at that time.” Geisler and her team provided oral health care to more than 400 patients during a 10-day trip throughout the country.

Most recently, Dr. Geisler and her team participated in World Vision’s annual Walk For Water. The project has raised sufficient funds to provide clean drinking water for life to more than 49,000 Africans.

West Africa 2005 & 2006

Charity Begins at Home

Dr. Geisler and her staff are also active in Oregon-based healthcare charities. In January 2007, they provided free care at the annual Give Kids a Smile event in Northeast Portland. They have also participated in every Portland-based Mission of Mercy since its inception in 2010.

“We close down the office and head over to the convention center in Portland to provide free dental care,” said Geisler. “We couldn’t do this if we didn’t have such great support from our patients.”

Dr. Geisler and her staff are partners with Pink Eraser Project, a local Lake Oswego charity whose mission is to provide school supplies and healthcare to children living at or below the poverty line in Lake Oswego.

“People do not realize how much poverty is present in the Lake Oswego community because the real estate is so costly. But there are children here who are suffering. Our goal is to help them so that their lives can change in positive ways through education. Children can’t focus in school if they have a toothache. We want to change that.”